It
is a beautiful day outside. I know, I can see it from around
the corner, through the window. It is sunny, clear and probably
about 70 degrees. My immediate surroundings are a little different.
Gray, is the color that first comes to mind. Not a Gray sky,
but a gray cube, about 10 ft by 10 ft. Fluorescent lighting
radiates down upon me and temperature controlled air circulated
through carefully controlled ducts and vents. I am trapped.
Trapped by a society of workers. I am not a worker. I am a
rider, in heart, mind and body. But I am here because I need
money. Life as an adult is filled with responsibility. Some
is self-imposed, some is not. I could be a free spirit, live
in my car and ride all of the time. But, when I hit 40, I'd
take stock of my life, say "oh shit," and probably wet myself.
So instead I try to balance time between work and anything
else that I enjoy.
I have a house, a great
woman and now a real job with good pay, health insurance,
retirement plan and a gray cube with my name on it. Priorities
do change, but I still find it hard to pass up time to ride
when there are so many other important things that I should
be doing. Do I really need to keep practicing? Will my life
be any better once I land that new way to ride out of switch-footed
circle -Ks? I should spend more time working on my house,
working out to be healthier or I should spend a little more
time working, making money. I should, but I don't. I made
the move into adulthood grudgingly. Almost everyday, I take
my lunch hour at the local park. I sprint to the men's room
to change out of my "business casual" attire and into a
pair of shorts, T-shirt and Vans.
 
Then
I run to my car, that has my bike constantly locked inside,
and drive about a mile to the park. The horrible parking
lot at my office building and the perfection found at the
basketball court make the short drive worthwhile. I've got
about 40 minute to ride before I have to reverse the whole
process and get back to my cube. It is a lot of work for
only 40 minutes of riding. And if it is windy, or I'm having
a bad day of riding, it can be really frustrating and annoying.
But I do it. It is sometimes the only time I can get to
ride. I work 7:00am to 3:30pm. I get up at 5:00am to leave
for work by 6:00am to make it on time (traffic in the Boston
area sucks).
I get
home around 5:00pm or so, cuz sometimes I've got to hit
the store, or the bank, or whatever. By this point, my dogs
need to be fed and walked, because they've been in the house
all day. By the time I get back with them, my girlfriend
is home and we eat dinner. It is getting dark out earlier
now, and I haven't been able to find a very good place to
ride at night. And besides, since I get up so early, I'm
tired early. I also need time for school (I'm going part
time) and other work that I do (freelance writing / photography).
So as you can see, there's not a lot of free time to ride.
What is my moral here? Why am I going on and on about this?
To
prove a point. That my body is trapped in this gray cube,
under the fluorescent lighting, but my mind is still free.
I'm still thinking about riding and counting down the time
to my lunchtime ride. Responsibility and adulthood can suck,
but as long as I have my bike, there's a part of me that
will always be riding.
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